Wednesday Alcoholic Thread

[Swish]

and it's one fine brew. Best new beer I've tasted in some time. Also got some Sam Adams Winter Lager, one of my seasonal faves. Also enjoying a bottle of Johnny Walker Green, bought by a friend in Canada and smuggled in for my enjoyment. I love the Blue but it's way too expensive if you ask me ($150+ per bottle = Yikes!).

Swish

[MindGoneHaywire]

Now that I can't tolerate anything other than light beer...I was mostly on the delicious chemical taste of Coors Light but managed to find a way to deal with the taste of Bud Light. Took some doing.

My favorite all-around beer was...good call, nobody! Paulaner Hefeweizen, nothing quite like it. I've never, ever tasted an American beer calling itself a Hefeweizen that tasted anything like what I think a wheat/yeast beer should taste like. And while Paulaner is generally not rated as high for wheat beer as other brands like Wiehenstephaner, Hacker-Pschorr, Berlinerweiss, Spaten, etc., I always did like it the best. And it's much better than another rival brew that many liked better, Franziskaner.

Best beer I've ever tasted was Chimay Grande Reserve. Best of the trappist ales, best of the Chimay line. Nothing like it. Also the strongest good-tasting ale available, for my money. I used to drink Thomas Hardy's Ale, Bigfoot, Samiclaus & other barleywines, but, much like Samuel Adams' Triple Bock (remember that?), I never really saw the point. As I had failed in my attempts to develop a taste for scotch, ultimately I gave up amidst the opinion that the stuff just don't taste good enough to warrant the buzz.

First beer I drank seriously was Meisterbrau--24 little cylinders full of fun, that we used to get for $7 or $8 or something like that. Then Rolling Rock, which is now not what it used to be, sadly...though its 'clean' taste was always available in other yellow beers such as the Dominican Presidente. And the Chinese Tsingtao, which took a nosedive some years ago after its distribution was taken over by Anheuser-Busch, I believe, but I am happy to report that I tasted one recently & it was as I remembered it from nearly 20 years ago. I always hated Bud. Then some 12 years ago I discovered microbrews.

Prior to seeing stuff like Pete's Wicked & Oregon, most of the ones I tasted I thought were damned good. In the end I stuck with some of the first ones I tried, which were a serious cut above the likes of Pete's--prefab crap, I always thought--and much of what followed later. These were New Amsterdam, Catamount, Saranac, Samuel Adams, Harpoon, and Sierra Nevada. Sam Adams puts some damned good products out there, but the problem I always had with them was with their main product, the lager. Blechh. Everything else they've made except for perhaps the Triple Bock I thought was outstanding (remember their first light beer? Lightship. Best light beer I've ever had, though I guess their current one isn't bad either; it's probably very similar, if not identical. But I think I've only had it once), but the Lager always left me with a bitter aftertaste that I didn't like.

Not so New Amsterdam's Amber. Oh, yeah, I left out Brooklyn Beer. Same problem with them--I like all their stuff, except for their lager, which is very similar to Sam Adams'. But their Brown Ale & New Amsterdam's Amber are both excellent. New Amsterdam also made a great ale & a great Blonde Lager. They stumbled with their Black & Tan.

Saranac made the best Black & Tan I've ever had. Also a very tasty American Pilsener, a decent ale, and...I enjoyed their Adirondack Lager less, but it was still a good brewer, and always less expensive than any of the other microbrews. Catamount was a Vermont beer; they made a great porter. Harpoon, from Massachusetts, made my favorite American ale (though I wasn't crazy about their IPA, or anyone else's for that matter) and one of the most amazing beer experiences I've ever had: the Winter Warmer.

Unlike Samuel Smith's (excellent British brew, considered by many to be the best if you discount the Belgian Abbey ales) Winter Welcome, the Winter Warmer was one of the first spiced beers I'd tasted. That's a trend that went south real quick--I remember the first time I saw that Pete's had put out a competing product...but the Winter Warmer was a full-bodied beer, not quite an ale, but close, spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon. It leaves an aftertaste reminiscent of pie, and this time of year is the only time you'll see me near anything like that. Absolutely fantastic. The Pete's was, like, nutmeg, &...raspberry. GMAB. And since that time, I've seen some real bullsh*t. I can take a pumpkin ale, I suppose, but there have been some combinations that just leave me scratching my head. But if you can get yr hands on a Winter Warmer, by all means do so.

That leaves Sierra Nevada, I guess. I left out Anchor Steam? They're good, too. But SN's pale ale, while not pale so far as I can see, is outstanding. Their porter is pretty good too...I am not as much a fan of their stout, but then I never was a big stout fan. I prefer Murphy's to Guinness, which I think is mostly a big myth, and the best stout I ever had was much closer to the Sierra Nevada product, put out by a local microbrew I can't even remember the name of & I don't think they're in business anymore anyway. It was called Black Sea Stout.

For quite some time prior to my getting sick all I really drank was beer & sake, and I'd been trying lots of different cold sakes for awhile. Hot sake? Most of the time you can make just about any sake drinkable when you heat them; but if you want to taste a good one, you need to go cold. Best one I ever had is something called Hoketsetsu, which is imported in the USA exclusively for use in the restaurants of Nobu Matsuhisa; I think he has more than the one in NYC & one in Beverly Hills that I was aware of--Las Vegas? The restaurants are obviously expensive, but this is the sh*t, if you know what I mean. Second-best I've had was actually a Gekkeikan product. Of which I was a little skeptical since that's the brand you see in every liquor store, for the most part. But they make one called Horin that cost more than $30 a bottle the last time I purchased one some 5 years ago. I can't remember the names of them right now, but typically I would go with magnums that you could get for about $20 apiece, there were 3 or 4 very decent ones. Avoid Hakusan (terrible hangovers); and I'd say Sho Chiku Bai is definitely a cut below the basic Gekkeikan product. There are doubtless great boutique sakes out there these days, but I just don't know what or how they are.

Since all I can tolerate is light beer, I rarely taste anything stronger. But I'll end this with the mention of a drink I had a couple of weeks ago that blew my socks off. My wife & I went to this place in Grand Central Station, a private area that was once rented by a businessman, back in the 1920s or 1930s or thereabouts, and was transformed into a bar a few years ago. It's in a corner of the building & you have to reach it from a separate side entrance: the Campbell Apartment, it's called. The ceilings are enormously high & the place was decked out when John W. Campbell (Chairman Of The Board of the Credit Clearing House until 1941) decorated it...the motif is "Cocktails From Another Era," and it's reminiscent of the Hearst Castle, in a way. Obviously it's not as large, but it is a good-sized room, and the art and details provide a good chunk of the ambience. Anyway, they had a list of newfangled retro cocktails, I guess you'd say, and a few typical drinks you'd expect to find on a menu like that. Expensive place, but worth it for the experience. Only two beers, but a decent wine list & many different types of cocktails (though I didn't see a few things I would've expected to see, like Sidecars, Rob Roy, Old Fashioned, Manhattan, stuff like that...). My wife ordered what was basically a martini but with orange bitters (the "Delmonico") and I went for something called the Chocolate Charleston. Which consists of a martini glass encrusted with milk chocolate shavings, filled with something called Double Dutch Vodka, topped off with Godiva liqueur. OMG. It sounds absolutely revolting, and I would never have been caught dead ordering a drink like that, but it was out of this world. Absolutely fantastic, and all the more so since I can't have more than one of any kind of mixed drink. Great, great stuff. If you can stand the thought of chocolate-flavored vodka in yr cabinet, mix it up with the Godiva, and if you're a chocolate lover, you'll be in heaven. If not, you'll curse me...but then you'd be an idiot to try it.

[tentoze]

"That leaves Sierra Nevada, I guess. I left out Anchor Steam? They're good, too. But SN's pale ale, while not pale so far as I can see, is outstanding."

I have a few SN Pale Ales left in the fridge now from a few months ago- absolutely undrinkable to my heathen tastes. One of those brews that, by the time I get it to my mouth, the "bouquet" overwhelms my sense of smell and makes me want to gag. All this being said with the qualifying statement that I do not like heady brews. Flat Tire and Flying Dog's Tire Bite Ale are about as strong as I care to deal with, and both of those are pretty tasty to my uncultured palate.

[Finch Platte]

Only to excess..........

Dit. Toe. *hic*

fp

[ForeverAutumn]

I went for something called the Chocolate Charleston. Which consists of a martini glass encrusted with milk chocolate shavings, filled with something called Double Dutch Vodka, topped off with Godiva liqueur. OMG. It sounds absolutely revolting, and I would never have been caught dead ordering a drink like that, but it was out of this world. Absolutely fantastic, and all the more so since I can't have more than one of any kind of mixed drink. Great, great stuff. If you can stand the thought of chocolate-flavored vodka in yr cabinet, mix it up with the Godiva, and if you're a chocolate lover, you'll be in heaven. If not, you'll curse me...but then you'd be an idiot to try it.

Here's one that I had recently that sounds like it should be revolting but was actually very, very yummy. Also served in a martini glass...the glass was lined with butterscotch sauce and then chilled. Not a lot of sauce, like they put the butterscotch in a squeeze jar and then squirted a spiral around the glass. It looked very nice. The drink inside was Baileys, some sort of butterscotch liquer and just a wee bit of cream. Mmmmm.

Have tried Godiva in hot chocolate? It's a nice winter warmer.

[BillB]

While on vacation in Ireland this past fall my wife and I stopped by both Guinness and Beamish's breweries (didn't have time for Murphy's even though it's in cork as well).

I was surprised to learn that all three stout makers use the exact same ingredients...except for the water source. Make sense as to why I always preferred Beamish and Murphy's over Guinness.

Had some other fine brews while there as well:

Kilkenny Cream Ale
Wexford Cream Ale
Smithwick's Ale
Kinsale Cream Stout
Kinsale Ale
Carling (a Canuck brew that we can't even get in the States)
Beamish Red

I also was informed that the #1 lager in the whole of Ireland is...

...no longer Harp
...not Carlsberg
...no not Stella either
...Heinekin?????Nope
...hold onto yer hats...

MILLER GENIUNE DRAFT

It's brewed by Beamish along with Fosters and Carling for the UK market. It was on tap at every pub we popped into as well. Didn't notice many people asking for it though...perhaps big in the big cities.

Bill

[agtpunx40]

the bar my girlfriend works at sells smithwicks, I like it alot. It's also good with guinness, like a black and tan, but with smithwicks instead of bass.
I don't know if anyone's ever been to one of the Guinness Believer things, but I went to one last week. i tried to figure out the whole time what the catch was. Me and a bunch of friends signed up, went to the ESPN zone in DC, and between 6:30 and 8:30, we got all the guinness (can, tap, and bottle. They gave you a bucket of bottles at the table but if you walked over to the bar or one of the separate tables with taps they had set up you could get it off tap) extra stout (one of my personal favorites) and harp, including half and halfs. Plus they had all sorts of free food set up buffet style chicken, pasta, breadsticks etc. They really kept it coming, I recommend it to anyone who wants lots of free beer and food.

[Davey]

My belated Friday night response: First, yes it does sound kinda gay and second, what are ya doing working your buzz on a Thursday morning?

Hehehe, stopped by the local Trader Joes on the way home tonight and picked up some handmade tortillas and some chips and another of those cheapass pale ales they seem to specialize in. This one is Mission St. Pale Ale from good ol' Paso Robles country, not too far from where I grew up down around the central California coast. Only $4.99 a six so worth a try. Real nice hoppy aroma when you pop the top and the taste is similar, but a little lacking in body and depth. A bit on the thin side. Pretty clean though. Overall, I'd say about average for an inexpensive pale ale of the Sierra Nevada variety. Quite drinkable. 4.6% alcohol. The excellent Summer In Abaddon on the stereo so don't label me off-topic

[Dusty Chalk]

...what are ya doing working your buzz on a Thursday morning?

Actually it was late Wednesday night. But still, I heard that alcoholics "...have rules...", so I try very hard not to have rules -- I.E., I only drink socially, I always drink alone, I only drink after noon, I only drink when I'm bored, I only drink when I'm frustrated, I always have a drink after dinner, I only drink on holidays, etc. I am basically a forced-pseudo-random drinker. I try never to drink the same way twice. So yes, I have drunk before noon, before. Take it any way you can get it, neh?

As a matter of fact, I haven't had a drink at a strip bar, recently, I should do that next. I go to strip bars for the music.

[tentoze]

Actually it was late Wednesday night. But still, I heard that alcoholics "...have rules...", so I try very hard not to have rules -- I.E., I only drink socially, I always drink alone, I only drink after noon, I only drink when I'm bored, I only drink when I'm frustrated, I always have a drink after dinner, I only drink on holidays, etc. I am basically a forced-pseudo-random drinker. I try never to drink the same way twice. So yes, I have drunk before noon, before. Take it any way you can get it, neh?

As a matter of fact, I haven't had a drink at a strip bar, recently, I should do that next.

During one of myriad pitched arguments, my ex screamed, "You're nothing but an alcoholic!"

I immediately slammed my fist on the table and replied, "I AM NOT! Alcoholics go to meetings."


O, and we were listening to Rave Recordings at the time, just to stay on topic.

[Mike That Likes Music]

When I'm all for a-gettin' drunk:
Shots of Knob Creek (good bourbon that won't flatten your wallet too much) with chasers of Fat Tire (one of the best beers ever made)
One of my friends has a dad who's a wine merchant (I fergit the technical term for this profession at this point, despite having lived among the wine snobs of Napa for several years... too many dead brain cells). Anyhoo, he gives me LOADS of good stuff for nothin'. I love him.